Winning – book by Jack Welch – blog by Karl Janowski
This book covers a wide variety of general management topics.
Your mission statement should balance the possible and impossible.
What are the values you work by? List them and live them.
Reward both performance and behavior.
Candor – candor works because candor unclutters, but is against human nature
Jack uses differentiation in ranking employees 20% top, 70% middle, 10% falling. Protecting underperformers always backfires. Rev up the 70% middle, don’t let them get lost or down
What Leaders Do
Constantly upgrade the team- evaluate, coach, build self confidence
Make people live and breath the vision
Give off energy and optimism
Trust with transparency and candor
Have courage to make unpopular calls
Probe and push with curiosity
Set the example
Celebrate
Hiring- How do you spot a winner?
3 Tests- integrity, intelligence, and maturity
Look for: positive energy, ability to energize others, ability to make tough decisions, to execute, and have passion for your job
For hiring high level managers: authenticity, anticipate future needs, surround themselves with good people, and resilience
People Management
Elevate HR to a position of power.
Use a rigorous non bureaucratic evaluation
Face straight into tough relationships
Have an effective mechanism (process and money) to motivate and train,
Treat the middle 70% as heart and soul of organization
Have a flatter organization with a clearly defined structure
3 Types of Firings
Integrity Violations – these are no brainers
Layoffs due to economics – every employee should know how the company is doing
Non-performance – Do it this way: no surprises, minimize humiliation,
3 Big Mistakes of Firing
Moving too fast
Not using enough candor
Taking too long
Change
Attach every change to a clear purpose
Hire and promote only true believers
Get rid of resisters
Seize every opportunity, even those from someone else’s misfortune
Crisis Management
Assume the problem is worse than it appears
There are no secrets in the world – be honest
You and your organizations handling will be portrayed in the worst light
There will be changes in process and people at the conclusion
You will get stronger from the crisis
Strategy
Come up with the big aha for your business – a sustainable competitive advantage
Put the right people in the right jobs
Seek out best practices to achieve your aha
Look at: current playing field, what you competition has been up to, what you’ve been up to
Budgeting
Do not use “Negotiated settlement or phony smile methods”
Need an operating plan first,
Bonuses should be about beating last years performance and competition
Start Up
Spend plenty upfront and put the most passionate people in the lead
Make a grand promotion of the importance of the startup
Err on the side of freedom, get of the venture’s back
Acquiring a Company Pitfalls
Thinking it will be a merger of equals
Not worrying about culture fit
A “reverse hostage situation” where you gave up too much power in negotiations
Integrating too timidly
The conqueror syndrome
Paying too much
Resistance in their employees
A part of making your customers sticky is meeting or exceeding their expectations, which is what Six Sigma helps you do.
Getting Promoted: Do deliver great performance far beyond expectations, don’t make your boss use political capital to champion you.
Your Boss
Top priority is competitiveness
Most are willing to accommodate work-life changes if you earned it
Bosses know that work-life issues are negotiated one on one over policy
Don’t turn for help too much, your life is your problem to solve
Your mission statement should balance the possible and impossible.
What are the values you work by? List them and live them.
Reward both performance and behavior.
Candor – candor works because candor unclutters, but is against human nature
Jack uses differentiation in ranking employees 20% top, 70% middle, 10% falling. Protecting underperformers always backfires. Rev up the 70% middle, don’t let them get lost or down
What Leaders Do
Constantly upgrade the team- evaluate, coach, build self confidence
Make people live and breath the vision
Give off energy and optimism
Trust with transparency and candor
Have courage to make unpopular calls
Probe and push with curiosity
Set the example
Celebrate
Hiring- How do you spot a winner?
3 Tests- integrity, intelligence, and maturity
Look for: positive energy, ability to energize others, ability to make tough decisions, to execute, and have passion for your job
For hiring high level managers: authenticity, anticipate future needs, surround themselves with good people, and resilience
People Management
Elevate HR to a position of power.
Use a rigorous non bureaucratic evaluation
Face straight into tough relationships
Have an effective mechanism (process and money) to motivate and train,
Treat the middle 70% as heart and soul of organization
Have a flatter organization with a clearly defined structure
3 Types of Firings
Integrity Violations – these are no brainers
Layoffs due to economics – every employee should know how the company is doing
Non-performance – Do it this way: no surprises, minimize humiliation,
3 Big Mistakes of Firing
Moving too fast
Not using enough candor
Taking too long
Change
Attach every change to a clear purpose
Hire and promote only true believers
Get rid of resisters
Seize every opportunity, even those from someone else’s misfortune
Crisis Management
Assume the problem is worse than it appears
There are no secrets in the world – be honest
You and your organizations handling will be portrayed in the worst light
There will be changes in process and people at the conclusion
You will get stronger from the crisis
Strategy
Come up with the big aha for your business – a sustainable competitive advantage
Put the right people in the right jobs
Seek out best practices to achieve your aha
Look at: current playing field, what you competition has been up to, what you’ve been up to
Budgeting
Do not use “Negotiated settlement or phony smile methods”
Need an operating plan first,
Bonuses should be about beating last years performance and competition
Start Up
Spend plenty upfront and put the most passionate people in the lead
Make a grand promotion of the importance of the startup
Err on the side of freedom, get of the venture’s back
Acquiring a Company Pitfalls
Thinking it will be a merger of equals
Not worrying about culture fit
A “reverse hostage situation” where you gave up too much power in negotiations
Integrating too timidly
The conqueror syndrome
Paying too much
Resistance in their employees
A part of making your customers sticky is meeting or exceeding their expectations, which is what Six Sigma helps you do.
Getting Promoted: Do deliver great performance far beyond expectations, don’t make your boss use political capital to champion you.
Your Boss
Top priority is competitiveness
Most are willing to accommodate work-life changes if you earned it
Bosses know that work-life issues are negotiated one on one over policy
Don’t turn for help too much, your life is your problem to solve